The present invention relates to power tools, and more particularly, to a power drill, driver, or hammer drill having a side handle arrangement.
A typical power drill or driver includes a housing, a spindle, and a chuck for holding a drill bit or screwdriver. The housing typically includes a portion which contains an electric motor, a pistol-like grip for holding the drill, and a trigger switch for turning the drill on and off so as to supply torque to the drill bit or screwdriver for drilling a hole and inserting or removing a screw or the like. However, sometimes it is particularly difficult to gain enough leverage on the drill with the pistol-like grip alone. Therefore, power drills or drivers have been developed that further include a side handle so that the user may use both hands when using the drill or driver to gain leverage.
There are also power drills or drivers that include means for changing speeds of the drill or means for applying variable torque to the drill bit or screwdriver. These power drills typically include a rotary collar or other switching device that can be rotationally moved to different settings such that the speed of the drill or a torque setting of the drill can be increased or decreased according to the type of task the drill is being used to perform. However, when a drill that contains either the means for changing speeds or means for applying variable torque also contains a side handle, the placement of the side handle may make it difficult to rotationally move the collar to different settings and also difficult to read the settings on the rotary collar.
With the above deficiency in mind, the present invention provides a drill or driver that includes a housing, a collar mounted at a front portion of the housing, a side handle mounting area provided forward of the collar, a handle mounted to the side handle mounting area, and a chuck mounted forward of the side handle mounting area. With the side handle mounted in front of the collar, easier adjustment of the collar and easier reading of the collar settings is achieved. In addition, because the handle mounting area can be made generally the same size as the chuck, the use of handles with industry standard size mounting collars is also permitted.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.